Smart textiles created with nanodiamonds can cool people down faster, according to researchers at Australia’s RMIT University.
- They found that fabric made from cotton coated with nanodiamonds, using a method called electrospinning, showed a reduction of 2–3 degrees Celsius during the cooling down process compared to untreated cotton.
- They did this by drawing out body heat and releasing it from the fabric—a result of the incredible thermal conductivity of nanodiamonds.
- The study also found nanodiamonds increased the UV protection of cotton, making it ideal for outdoor summer clothing.
THE SIGNIFICANCE: The finding creates a big opportunity to use these insights in creating new textiles for sportswear and even personal protective clothing, such as underlayers to keep fire fighters cool.
- This method of coating nanofibres on to textiles has strong commercial potential.
THE FINDINGS: The paper ‘Immobilization of nanodiamonds onto cotton fabric through polyurethane nanofibrous coatings for summer clothing’ was published in Polymers for Advanced Technologies.
- Aisha Rehman (lead researcher), Shadi Houshyar, Azadeh Mirabedini, Stephen Michielsen and Xin Wang are co-authors.
THE NANODIAMONDS: Contrary to popular belief, nanodiamonds are not the same as the diamonds that adorn jewellery. They’re actually cheap to make—cheaper than graphene oxide and other types of carbon materials.
- While they have a carbon lattice structure, they are much smaller in size. They’re also easy to make using methods like detonation or from waste materials.
- Nanodiamonds were chosen for this study because of their strong thermal conductivity properties.
- Nanodiamonds are also biocompatible, so they’re safe for the human body. Therefore, it has great potential not just in textiles, but also in the biomedical field.
HOW IT WORKS: Cotton material was first coated with an adhesive, then electrospun with a polymer solution made from nanodiamonds, polyurethane and solvent.
- This process creates a web of nanofibres on the cotton fibres, which are then cured to bond the two.
- The coating with nanodiamonds was deliberately applied to only one side of the fabric to restrict heat in the atmosphere from transferring back to the body.
- The side of the fabric with the nanodiamond coating is what touches the skin. The nanodiamonds then transfer heat from the body into the air.
- Because nanodiamonds are such good thermal conductors, it does it faster than untreated fabric.
WHAT THEY SAID:
While 2 or 3 degrees may not seem like much of a change, it does make a difference in comfort and health impacts over extended periods and in practical terms, could be the difference between keeping your air conditioner off or turning it on. There’s also potential to explore how nanodiamonds can be used to protect buildings from overheating, which can lead to environmental benefits.
— Dr Shadi Houshyar (Project Lead)
Senior Lecturer
RMIT University
